


Tech and Other Support

by bluphacelia, sleapyGazelle



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Blind Date, Chatting & Messaging, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mistaken Identity, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, POV Keith (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Second-Hand Embarrassment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-11 10:25:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15313476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluphacelia/pseuds/bluphacelia, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleapyGazelle/pseuds/sleapyGazelle
Summary: Keith is an advanced undergrad student taking a grad course on coding. He shares the class with Lance, a Marine Biology grad student with a long and sketchy history with technology. On the eve of the first deadline, Keith sees Lance in full panic mode on the class discussion board looking for help. Taking pity on the cute boy, Keith decides to reply. Despite Lance's failure to recognize Keith IRL, the two form an online friendship. But what happens when they finally meet for real?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written for the [Keith Mini Bang](http://keithminibang.tumblr.com/) by [Blu](http://bluphacelia.tumblr.com/) and [Sleapy](https://sir-klancelot.tumblr.com). We'll be posting all six chapters in the upcoming 2 weeks so everything should be here by July 25th! We also had art from the lovely [alex](http://okay-but-klance.tumblr.com/) and [tachimon](http://tachimon.tumblr.com/) for later scenes so the art will be posted when that scene arrives!

## Prologue

“ _Hunk_ ,” Lance groans. “I am so swamped!”

“I know,” his friend responds with the patience of an angel. The two make their way through the library’s main concourse towards the elevators. 

“Every single one of my classes has a term paper or a presentation due the same week,” Lance continues. “Do you know what this means?”

“Um, it’s the end of term?”

“Bzzt! Wrong, Hunk! Incorrect. It’s because the universe hates me.” Lance throws his hands up in the air.

Hunk chuckles fondly at his friend’s dramatics. 

He and Lance first met five years back, on the first day of freshman year. They happened to sit next to each other in their gen-ed writing class, and immediately bonded over how terrible the professor’s scowl was. Every semester after that, they’ve dormed together, and now, one year into grad school, they’re still often unlikely to be seen apart. 

The elevator doors slide open, and they shuffle in. They normally head straight for the fifth floor, where talking is allowed, making it great for group study. Hunk is about to hit the button when Lance stops him. 

“Dude, let’s go to nine today.”

Hunk raises an eyebrow. “The silent commons? You sure?”

Lance nods solemnly. “I need all the quiet I can get to work on these papers.”

Getting off on nine, they decide on a well-lit desk surrounded by quietly working people—just the environment Lance needs right now to feel motivated. He opens up his laptop, and types in the name of a reference book he needs for his neuroscience paper. The campus’s mammoth library is entirely useless when it comes to carrying enough copies of essential books to go around. Broke college student as he is, Lance is _not_ about to spend a dime on this if he can avoid it. He clicks around on his laptop, oh-so carefully navigating the search results, until he finds the perfect site. _Bingo._ Grinning widely, he clicks.

Garish dinging starts blasting through the laptop speakers, along with a confident smooth voice announcing he’s the one-thousandth visitor and has won a date with a hot local single. A supposed picture of said local single, with photoshopped boobs, flashes on the screen. Lance’s heart beats in his throat in utter mortification as he fumbles to mute his speakers. But it’s too late. Every eye in the previously pin-drop silent hall is turned toward him and the offending laptop. 

A few people are openly laughing at his predicament, but most are just giving him nasty looks; Lance can’t decide which is worse. In his panic, the mute button doesn’t even occur to him. He manages to find the volume-down button and presses it until the sound gradually dies out—unlike Lance’s dignity, which died as suddenly as is possible. Death by embarrassment. Of course that’s how Lance would go. He buries his face in Hunk’s shoulder and groans. 

“I thought you were gonna work on your paper.” Hunk’s voice holds amusement, but he pats Lance’s arm comfortingly. 

“I was! I am! I needed to torrent this book.”

Hunk looks over to the screen where the ad is still going, now without sound. “Dude, why would you go on a site like that without adblocker installed?”

“I do have adblock. It must’ve gotten through.” He picks himself off Hunk to manually block the ad, but his finger freezes just above the trackpad. The icon for the adblock extension isn't there. “What the….” He pokes around in settings but it’s totally gone. “See?” he mutters. “The universe. The universe is just out to get me.”

* * *

## Chapter 1

**Bailando dance lance** Today at 1:49 AM  
_Hey so I'm having issues installing browser extensions on my laptop_  
_My friend said I could get help here?_

Keith sees the messages pop up and sets down his Red Bull. No rest for the weary. He sets aside his notebook and pulls his laptop closer. One look at the username gives Keith the feeling it’s going to be a long night. 

**IT help agent 3** Today at 11:50 PM  
**Hello Lance. I’ll be happy to help you today. Please tell me more about your problem**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 11:50 PM  
_I have adblock installed but it's not working_  
_Ads are still getting through_

**bailando dance lance** Today at 11:51 PM  
_I had an embarrassing incident at the library earlier_

Keith wonders for a second, decides he doesn't want to know, and types out the next of the campus IT center’s standard opening questions. 

**IT help agent 3** Today at 11:52 PM  
**What steps, if any, have you already taken to resolve this issue?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 11:53 PM  
_Well I went to the browser settings and chose the one that said "Ad-block" and installed it, but it doesn't do anything. I'm still getting ads. Even the youtube ads are getting through_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 11:54 PM  
**are you sure it installed?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 11:54 PM  
_I don't know? It used to work fine before but now, well, it doesn’t_

Keith pinches the bridge of his nose. It’s going to be one of those nights. He doesn't mind being a tech support agent; really, he doesn't. It pays decently enough, as far as work-study programs go, and he has the comfort of working from his dorm. But when he has to remotely help people with their tech issues, he needs something to work with. And occasionally there will be someone who gives him nothing, leaving him to play detective and fish for information. 

**IT help agent 3** Today at 11:56 PM  
**ok what browser are you using?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 11:56 PM  
_chrome, I'm not a heathen_

Keith rolls his eyes. The only thing worse than an idiot is an idiot who thinks he’s funny. 

**IT help agent 3** Today at 11:57 PM  
**Any problems with other extensions?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 11:58 PM  
_Uh, I don't think so? I don't really use many others_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 11:59 PM  
**Can you check if you have other extensions installed?**

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:00 AM  
**Do you know how to do that?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:00 PM  
_Pff ofc I know how to check my own extensions_

When the guy doesn't reply right away, Keith picks up his math notebook again. This homework is due tomorrow and there’s only one more problem left. He writes out a series of differentials before his laptop pings again. 

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:05 AM  
_Ok, I found it. I think._  
_Everything is grayed out though and weird looking_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:06 AM  
**Are you seeing a list of extensions though?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:07 AM  
_There's Drive and Docs and Honey_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:08 AM  
**But they're gay?**  
**gray***

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:08 AM  
_Ye_  
_Yeah_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:09 AM  
**They're disabled. Probably has something to do with chrome using too much memory**  
**Are you by any chance on an old computer, or have a lot of tabs open?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:09 PM  
_Yes_

Mark down ‘replying yes to an A or B question’ as one of Keith's pet peeves. He allows Lance a moment to clarify before caving. 

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:11 AM  
**??**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:12 AM  
_I mean I got it when I started school so it's a bit old now I guess. Working on a research paper so I might have a few tabs open_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:12 AM  
**A few?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:13 AM  
_a hundred_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:13 AM  
**No I'm serious how many? Cause if it's like over 20 or so it could cause chrome to freeze and you'd have to manually turn on the extensions again**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:14 AM  
_Oh_  
_I have like 7 windows with 20-50 tabs open each probably. idk exactly_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:14 AM  
**Oh**  
**I thought you were kidding when you said 100**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:14 AM  
_Do you want a screenshot as proof of my tab prowess?_  
_Does this chat let me share images?_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:15 AM  
**That's not necessary**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:15 PM  
_You sure, IT help agent 3?_  
_:3c_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:16 AM  
**You can't just… get what you need and close them at some point?**  
**Anyway, can you save the tabs?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:16 AM  
_No closing tabs. We die like men._  
_Yeah ok give me a sec_  
_Okay, all saved. Hopefully_

For the first time since starting this job, Keith has the thought that he might not be getting paid enough for it. 

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:18 AM  
**Are you sure?**  
**Well if they're not you can just get them back from your history**  
**So now X out of chrome and then open a new window. If this chat is open in chrome it'll close too but you can just sign in again**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:19 AM  
_Oh, okay. Hang on how do I get you back?_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:19 AM  
**Just sign in to the IT chat thing again from the university website and it'll rejoin the session. Because I'm still logged on here**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:19 AM  
_So you're the only one working tonight?_

Does this guy have nothing better to do than chat up the chat support agent? Keith reaches for his energy drink before typing his reply. 

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:20 AM  
**Yes**

Before he can push the guy to get a move on, another message comes through.

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:20 AM  
_So, you come here often? ;)_

Keith blinks at the message for a moment, wondering whether he’s too tired or he actually read that right.

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:21 AM  
**Here?? Like, online??**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:22 AM  
_Ok I didn’t think that line through_  
_Guess it doesn’t translate as well to chat format_  
_So anyway, do you ever get lonely? Can't be a lot of people up at like one in the morning?_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:44 AM  
**You'd be surprised**  
**So did you restart chrome?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:44 AM  
_No shit wait. I'll be back in a minute_

Keith gets the message that ‘bailando dance lance’ has logged off. “Idiot,” he mutters to himself, surprised when it comes out more amused than annoyed. 

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:49 AM  
_I'm BACK_  
_IT help agent 3?_  
_You there?_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:50 AM  
**I'm here**  
**You only have 1 tab open now right?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:50 AM  
_You got it, 3_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:51 AM  
**No, just 1 please. What are the other 2?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:51 AM  
_No no, I have one tab open. 3 is my nickname for you_  
_You know, coz ur IT help agent 3?_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:52 AM  
**………**  
**Anyway so now try installing your extension again**  
**Adblock was it?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:53 AM  
_Right on, 3 ;)_

**bailando dance lance** Today at 12:57 AM  
_It won't let me. It's doing some weird script error thing pop-up_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 12:58 AM  
**hm**  
**Go into your extensions again and try to manually enable one of them. See if that works**

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:01 AM  
**What happened?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:02 AM  
_I can’t tell if anything happened?_

Keith shuts his notebook; at least his homework is done. He eyes the time in the corner of his laptop screen. This support session is going on way too long for a browser extension issue. Time to bring out the big guns. 

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:03 AM  
**Are you okay with doing a remote support session?**  
**I'll be able to control your computer from here and see if I can fix your problem myself**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:03 AM  
_Sure, 3. You won't do anything weird will you?_

Does banging his head on the table count as something weird? Keith repeats his longtime friend and fellow support agent Shiro’s words in his mind. “Patience yields good ratings.”

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:04 AM  
**I'll only be trying to fix your browser issue. You can watch everything I'm doing and after we end the session I won't have access to your computer anymore**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:04 AM  
_Chill, I was jk ;D_  
_What do I need to do?_

Keith, still chanting Shiro’s motto, sends over the remote support session link, waits until Lance accepts the terms, and logs into Lance’s system. A stunning ocean wallpaper greets him as Lance’s screen loads on Keith’s laptop. Keith isn't sure what he was expecting, but a scenic ocean somehow wasn’t it. 

Anticipating the next question, he sends off a new message in the still open support chat. 

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:06 AM  
**If you need to talk to me, you can still use this chat but now I'm gonna poke around and see what I can find**

He means to minimize the window and get to work, but two more messages come through in quick succession.

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:07 AM  
_Sweet! Thank you so much_  
_So you do this often?_

Keith groans out loud. _This again?_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:07 AM  
**Uh, my job?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:07 AM  
_Well, you know. Fix things?_  
_Help hopeless cases like me lols_  
_I promise if you asked me anything about marine biology I'd be totally aces_

Keith eyebrows quirk up in interest. Marine biologist, huh? The ocean wallpaper makes sense now. He hates that he feels like he was figuring this guy over an IT support session, but the sudden vulnerability prompts him to reply without snark for once. 

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:08 AM  
**Uh well I work part time with campus IT**

He minimized the chat window to get to work, clicking on Start. His fingers freeze as he stares at his screen. The guy’s profile picture. It’s…stunning. What has to be Lance’s face stares at Keith from the selfie pinned to the top of the start menu. His smile is radiant, shining pleasantly from the friendly-looking face. Keith mentally shakes himself; this is no time to be gay. He launches command prompt, more determined than ever to end this session. 

A moment later, Lance unwittingly gives him a push; the chat window opens again. 

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:09 AM  
_I don't think I've ever seen these settings before. What even is this? I didn't know you could just type things like that and new things would pop up. What language is that?_

Keith minimizes the window without replying, only to have it pop up again not even two seconds later.

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:09 AM  
_No wait, I'm sure I installed it. It should be in there somewhere, right? Or did it somehow break my computer? Did I do something terribly wrong? Is this how you get viruses? IS IT INFECTED. OMG_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:10 AM  
**Please relax nothing's broken**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:11 PM  
_What's that black box for? Is this what hacking feels like?_

Keith finds himself completely over the pretty face he just angsted over. Well, almost completely. But his instinct to snark is certainly back in full force. 

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:11 AM  
**Will you understand if I explain it?**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:12 AM  
_probably not, but it looks really cool. You're really good at this_

Keith blinks at the latest message. He’s gotten the feeling by now that his quips aren’t going to shut this guy up. But, he supposes, was expecting banter, not honesty. He holds _himself_ to no honest standards as he vehemently ignores the pleased little flutter in his chest at being complimented by a cute guy. 

‘A cute idiot who has no idea who you are or what you look like,’ he reminds himself.

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:15 AM  
**Okay I changed a privacy setting that was probably causing the problem**  
**Try installing your extension now**

Keith, still logged in to Lance’s computer, watches as the extension installs. He hopes for the sake of his own sanity that it will work. 

Lance navigates to putlocker, and the page is clean except for the movie links themselves. No ads. 

Keith reaches to type a ‘yay us’ message but Lance beats him to it. 

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:17 AM  
**you're amazing! A blessing! A miracle worker! How can I ever repay you!**

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:17 AM  
**Looks like it worked**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:18 AM  
_You saved my night, honestly_

Keith is beating his gay feelings back with a stick at this point. Time to get this guy _off_ the site. He ends the remote session and returns to the blissfully mundane motorcycle of his own wallpaper. He clicks open the chat window again. 

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:18 AM  
**Well you'll be getting a survey after you close the window, you can fill that out**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:19 AM  
_Oh? I'll praise you to high heaven. Thank you, 3! You also have the best name ;)_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:19 AM  
**Uh thanks**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:20 AM  
_I'm not the savviest with computers, so you're honestly my savior. I feel like I owe you my life. Or at least a good grade for this report_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:20 AM  
**Good luck**  
**You can close the window whenever you're ready**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:20 AM  
_Yo what's with the whole tab thing, don't you have 200 tabs open at once or is it just me?_  
_u pushin me off that chat, 3? :(_  
_sorry, I'm totally using you to procrastinate some more LOL I really don't want to start working again_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:21 AM  
**Having too many tabs is taxing on a computer's memory. And when I was doing the remote control, I saw that your computer doesn't have that much RAM to begin with.**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:21 AM  
_Oh yeah, I bought it like 5 years ago for school lol_  
_Also what exactly is RAM? I feel like you don't mean the animal ;)_

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:22 AM  
**Maybe time to get a new one then**  
**RAM is just the computer's memory**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:22 AM  
_No money. Grad school is sucking out my soul and my wallet_

Keith is still pondering what to say to that, and trying to figure out how he feels about Lance turning out to be a whole degree program older than he is, when another message arrives. 

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:23 AM  
_Okay, sorry. I guess you need to continue working. And so do I ha. Thank you again! I hope to see you around sometime_

Keith smiles sardonically. The campus is big, and they’re apparently in different departments, so the chances of running into each other are slim. Good. The last thing Keith needs is to pine for this guy face to face. 

**IT help agent 3** Today at 1:24 AM  
**I'm glad I was able to help. Goodnight**

**bailando dance lance** Today at 1:24 AM  
_Night!_

Keith looks at the ‘offline’ status for a moment before formally ending the session. For the second time tonight, it occurs to him that he does not get paid enough for this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Lance_   
>  **Keith**
> 
>  
> 
> Art by the lovely [tachimon](http://tachimon.tumblr.com/)!

~~~~Keith picks up the two coffees from the counter and heads over to where Pidge has already reserved a booth for them. She has her books stacked beside her on the bench, so Keith hands her the coffee and takes a seat on the other side. She doesn't even look up as she places the coffee next to her, already deep into whatever she’s reading on her laptop.

Keith doesn't bother trying to engage her, instead grabbing his stack of papers and starting on his assignment.

Pidge picks up the cup of coffee and absently takes a sip. She makes an indignant noise and slams it back down. "Keith! What the hell?"

"What?" he asks, not looking up from his homework.

"What is this tar?" she demands.

He looks up, eyebrows furrowed. "The stuff you always get."

She crosses her arms. "Taste yours."

Keith looks at his coffee cup and then takes a sip. Sugar singes his taste buds and he nearly gags. "Holy fuck."

"I'll take that then, thank you." Pidge slides the offending black coffee across the table, pulls her sugar fix toward herself, and takes a sip. She sighs as she sets it down. "Much better!"

"How do you drink that without going into cardiac arrest?" Keith asks smacking his mouth in distaste.

He retrieves a water bottle from his backpack, eyes glancing over the small campus coffee shop. The line is nearly out the door as it always is, but it's still early enough that most of the tables are unoccupied. He takes a swig of water to wash the taste of sugar away, and just as he's about to swallow, he sees a familiar face in the crowd. He gulps too fast and ends up coughing into his elbow for a good minute.

When he opens his eyes again, Pidge is watching him shrewdly, then scanning the crowd to try and figure out what—or who—caught his eye.

"You okay?" she asks, turning back to him.

"Yeah," he replies, voice still hoarse, and quickly looks down at his homework.

"Hmm...." Pidge sounds unconvinced, but she doesn't push it. Her eyes still flit over the slowly moving queue.

Keith waits for Pidge to look back down before he side-eyes the line again. Lance is halfway down now, looking at his phone. Keith watches for a moment, homework forgotten as Lance sees someone he knows and his face lights up. He watches as the other boy's smile grows wide and he clasps hands with his friend. The two start chatting animatedly and Keith can't look away when Lance throws his head back in a laugh.

"Aha!" Pidge slams her laptop shut and triumphantly watches Keith scramble to turn back to his notes. "Who's the new crush?" she asks gleefully.

"What? Crush? No one," Keith says, eyes glued to his notes. "No one is a crush. There is no crush to be had."

"Fine, don't tell me." She pushes her glasses closer to her eyes and peers at the people in line. "It's not like it's hard to figure out. More than half the line is girls. Of the guys, three of them are not cute enough to tempt you. Those two over there look like fuckboys… Hey, you have standards," she insists when Keith starts to protest. "That leaves...that guy in the olive jacket?" She turns to him for confirmation, but judging by the satisfied gleam in her eyes, that is wholly unnecessary.

Keith rolls his eyes and looks back at Lance. He is cute. "Fine. I was looking at him but it's not ‘cause I have a crush. He's in one of my classes and I just helped him out with his laptop once. He was absolutely hopeless. I've never seen anyone that computer illiterate in my life. I honestly just feel sorry for the guy—" Keith snaps his mouth shut. Never ramble in front of Pidge, never ramble in front of Pidge. He forgot his mantra. He wishes he could go back in time. Where’s a wormhole when you need one?

Pidge leans forward. "Wait, you helped him with his computer? But he's in your class now? Classes just started this week. Since when do you make friends that quick?"

"Oh, no," Keith backtracks. "That was when I was manning IT one night last semester. We're not friends. I just helped him once." Keith looks at Lance as he leans towards the barista with a flirty smile he can just make out. "We aren't friends." He looks back down at his homework.

Pidge doesn't drop the subject but redirects somewhat. "What class are you in with him?"

"Oh, it's just a biostatistics class conducted in Python. I'm just taking it as an elective. Seemed like an easy class," Keith replies.

"There's an elective Python class? How'd I miss that? Coding is my jam."

"Well. It's an elective if you've already done all the other ones," Keith grins. "Also you'd be bored. It's way too easy for you. I looked at last years project stats and it's something you'd do in a weekend."

Pidge laughed. "I'm not against an easy A."

"It's also a grad level class." Keith sits up a tad taller, feeling only the slightest bit smug.

Pidge's eyes widen and her head whirls back to the guy who's now leaving the coffee shop. "Oh so he's a grad student?! Also, what is a computer illiterate doing in a grad level Python biostats class?"

"I don't know," Keith replies and quickly looks back at his homework as Lance disappears from view. "Anyway. I don't really know anything about him." Just his name and face and how he's cute when he's frustrated, his brain amends for him. He went to the first lecture before realizing the notes would be available online. But that one hour and fifteen minutes had him shook when he saw that one of his classmates was the guy from his one interesting shift at the IT help desk. Lance was somehow even more alluring in person, and Keith spent the duration of class getting overly acquainted with Lance's frustrated face.

"Falling for an older, helpless, cute guy? Sounds like a bad idea, Keith." But there's a smile in her voice.

"Who said anything about falling for anyone," Keith says and takes a swig of his coffee. It burns a little when it goes down, but he suffers through it. "Now if you don't start on your essay you won't be able to come out tonight. I hear there’s going to be a new robot in the match." Keith looks up, quirking his eyebrow at Pidge.

"Alright, alright, I get it." She opens up her laptop again. "I'll just ask you again once you've gotten to know him better," she mumbles to herself.

"Ah," Keith starts as he taps his pencil on the page he should be working on. "I don't think I'm going to lectures. I went the first day and it's all basic stuff. A waste of time sitting there."

She wiggles her eyebrows at him over her laptop screen. "And you can't think of any _other_ reason to attend?"

"Of course not. It's a waste of time to go all the way there for one class," Keith says ignoring her pointed looks.

"Oh, Keith,." Sshe sighs. "You're your own worst enemy, dude."

"I don't know what you mean. This way I can take some more hours at work. Maybe start tutoring again if someone needs it." Keith continues jotting down notes. "Maybe I can finally replace my laptop."

Pidge, now typing her essay furiously to make up for time lost ogling grad students, looks up for a quick second between sentences. "Hey, pot, kettle, I know, but, don't take on more than you can chew."

"Just finish your essay," Keith says already distracted by the problem set.

* * *

* * *

Lance A.: _Anyone on_  
_?_  
_It's pretty late so probably not but just thought I'd check_  
_Just have a couple of questions on this assignment that's due_  
_Is anyone's done already? I'm working on it and are we sure all this stuff was covered in class?_  
_The beginning stuff I definitely recognize but generating tables when the data isn't pre-entered in the database? We didn't cover that, did we?_  
_Is no one on?_

Keith glances at the class discussion board open on his laptop and sighs. He _is_ itching for something to distract him from his own work.

Me: **We definitely covered it in class. Slide set 3.**

Lance A.: _Oh_  
_Okay you're right_  
_This helps a lot thanks princess!_

Did he just…call Keith…a princess? Keith doesn't know what to make of it, but he still continues the conversation for some reason.

Me: **You do know it's due in like 3 hours right?**

Lance A.: _Yes_  
_Thanks for reminding me. Like I wasn't already freaking out or anything_

Me: **Well, it shouldn’t take you very long. Just upload the data set and hit the few calculations, and then just write the report**

Lance A.: _Ok but this still isn't like what the assignment says to do. In class the data set was already in a csv file and we just had to run Python_

Me: **You have to export it first. Just get it into excel and make it into a csv**

Lance A.: _Oh I do that from excel!!_  
_So all in a column? Or a row?_  
_The values have to be in different cells right?_  
_Are you still there??_

Me: **Yeah, I'm here**  
**They have to be in different cells**

Lance A.: _Phew phew_  
_But row or column? Or does it not matter?_

Me: **Depends on how the data should be structured**  
**The top row needs to be the headers right**  
**Then the data in columns under the headers**

Lance A.: _ok i got it!_  
_then i can just save this as a csv and the rest is just like in the slides??_

Me: **Pretty much**  
**I'll be here so if you need something just ping me**

Keith freezes up for a second, fingers stilling as he wonders why he chose to offer more help so easily.

Lance A.: _really?_  
_wow that's really nice thanks!_  
_night owl huh?_

Me: **I guess. I'll be up until the deadline for sure**

Lance A.: _are you...not done yet either?_

Keith bites his lip. He's done with the code but the report is taking forever.

Me: **I'm done. Just finishing up**

Lance A.: _nice! you seem like you rlly get this stuff_  
_i'm only taking this class coz the easier quant one was full_

Me: **I'm a CS major**

Lance A.: _oh woah! i'm a marine biologist_  
_is that a 2 year masters?_

Keith fidgets in his uncomfortable dorm chair, typing and retyping his response. ‘I'm an undergrad. 4th year.’ Delete. ‘Still a fourth year.’ Delete. ‘Not yet.’ Delete.

Me: **Yeah it is**

Lance A.: _cool! so's the marine bio_  
_i'm in my 2nd year and i need this quant requirement to graduate rip. hbu?_

Me: **It's an elective. Wanted something light**

Lance A.: _l i g h t_  
_this is the first assignment and i was ready to die_  
_tho it turned out to be an easy fix! maybe this class won't be so bad after all_  
_i just feel like the prof is nice but i don't understand anything he says. and then the TA leads the labs and she goes so fast_  
_i'm a biologist not a coder :/_

Me: **I feel that away about english class. Can't I just code a word processor for you, why do I gotta write a report about it**

Lance A.: _are you serious? english classes are a breeze. you just bullshit about something that sounds deep, and boom. A_

Me: **How? English is the worst**

Lance A.: _well sounds like you need to let me pay you back for your help here sometime princess ;) hmu if you ever need help on an essay or whatevs_

Me: **Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. 2 hours btw. Go**

Lance A.: _asdfhjk_  
_It's okay! Only the report left now. Easy peasy_

Keith looks at the half page of his report he's managed so far. Time to stop dicking around and finish this paper.

Me: **Glad to help. GtG**

Keith logs off.

Lance A.: _Oh_  
_Bye princess!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Lance_   
>  **Keith**   
>  Pidge

Keith throws his backpack on the floor of his room and drops into the ratty second-hand office chair. The fatigue of a full day weighs heavily on his muscles, and he still has a cartload of homework. Flipping through his open tabs on chrome, he pauses for a moment before logging into the school chat service. There, in his contact list, he sees Lance is online, and he can't help the small smile tugging at his lips as he types.

Me: **Hey**

The response is instantaneous. 

Lance A.: _yooo. am i glad to hear from you_

Me: **So how'd the test go earlier?**

Lance A.: _oh that? pfft_  
_aced it_

This is followed by sunglasses and finger gun emojis.

Me: **of course you did**  
**you got the best tutor after all**

Lance A.: _Well by aced, I'm being generous haha. I think I passed tho. Thanks for your help! Again. Do I even need to ask how you did?_

Me: **The third problem had the wrong input in the screencap so I think the prof will have to go easy on grading that one**  
**Otherwise I think I did pretty good. It was all basics for now**

Lance A.: _basics you say ;D how much harder is it going to get from here??_  
_also, wrong input?? Omg I struggled with that question for a solid 15 minutes D:_

Me: **Yeah. I guess he made a typo when he input the problems, so the output was wrong**  
**I'm sure you did fine**

Keith hesitates for a moment. They’ve been chatting for a few weeks now, but taking the conversation away from school stuff still gives Keith pause. The format is weird, and Lance isn’t the kind of person Keith usually befriends, but he can’t deny he wants to get to know this ridiculous, intriguing boy more. He casts around for something to talk about and remembers Lance was looking forward to a hangout with friends after the test. 

Me: **How was that thing last weekend?**

Lance A.: _oh that! it was lit haha. hunk, that's my best friend, made the most amazing snacks. then an impromptu dance off broke out and not to brag but dancing is my thing_

Me: **Of course that would be your thing**  
**So who won?**

Lance A.: _it wasn't a competition, jeez_  
_..._  
_look I totally would've won but then hunk whipped out some breakdancing and that's straight up cheating_

Keith suppresses a laugh, tension rolling out of his shoulders without him even realizing.

Me: **Of course it is. Maybe you just don't have the moves you think you do**

Lance A.: _Rude! You don't even know_

Me: **a-hah**

Lance A.: _my moves are killer_

Me: **you danced straight into the grave**

Lance A.: _omfg you're savage princess_  
_i have pictures! hold on_

The chat is dead for a few moments before an image comes through of Lance and another guy who must be Hunk dancing in a living room with people cheering in the background. Keith swallows and quickly saves the picture onto his desktop.

Me: **I guess you're okay in still frame**

Lance A.: _Pfft I'm better than "okay"_  
_but aren't you gonna ask which one I am?_

Me: **Probably the one not breakdancing**  
**What do you call that? The windmill?**

Lance A.: _So savage smh_  
_so what'd you do on the weekend?_

Me: **Nothing much. Took an extra shift at work and had two essays to write**  
**Not as much fun as a dance off for sure**

Lance A.: _aw that bites. Looks like next time I'll just have to bring you out with me ;)_

Keith feels a small jab in his chest and he shifts on his seat. He can't very well ask if Lance really means it can he? ‘That'd be nice, I'd like to meet irl,’ he types before erasing it. His fingers hover over the keyboard for a moment as he considers a casual-sounding response. In the end, he defaults to snark.

Me: **Sure. Then I'd see your 'moves' irl. Maybe I'll ask your friend for pointers**

Lance A.: _:O y r u so mean to me?_  
_actually speaking of_  
_theres this thing_

A moment later, Lance sends a screenshot of an e-vite from his email to the planetarium's relaunch event next month. But Keith’s eyes are drawn to something else. Behind the window, the chat is visible, and Keith's username says ‘Princess.’

Lance A.: _I wanted to check out this thing but my friends aren't too hype about it. Would you want to go?_

Me: **Is that our chat? Why is my name like that?**

Keith quickly clicks into the website’s settings. He sees his nickname and his mind goes to the all-nighter two months ago when Pidge was messing around with his computer before he shooed her off. Fuck. All the other times Lance has called him princess flash before his eyes. Well that explains that. Fuck.

Me: **Has it always been that?**

Lance A.: _yeah?_

Me: **If you see murder on the news you might have to come help me hide a body**

Lance A.: _you got it, but also,_  
_huh??_

Me: **My friend. We have this thing where we try**  
**I mean the nickname thing. She switched it. Fuck I think she bested me.**

Lance A.: _oh my god_  
_she bested you? Then I have to meet her ;D_  
_wait so what's your actual name? I've been calling you princess this whole time and you never said anything? I thought princess was an odd name but I didn't know how to bring it up_  
_this explains why there's no one on the class roster named princess_  
_is it weird that i’ve checked?_

Me: **She's way smarter than me. We have this ongoing thing where we try to change something and see how long it takes for the other to notice. I got her for 1.5 months last time but that was thanks to the holidays.**  
**Fuck it's been like 3 months at least. She's going to roast me so hard. Maybe I won't tell her ever. I'll die gladly without her ever knowing this**

Keith watches his own barrage of text enter the chat and he bites his lip. Maybe Lance has been thinking he’s a girl; that would just be great. Perfect. Awesome. 

He should…clarify though….

Me: **Sorry, not a princess. I'm Keith**

Lance A.: _Keith! Nice to meet you Keith_  
_so…you're a guy right?_

Me: **Born and raised**

Keith types and hits enter. God that sounded dumb. Why is he so bad at this. He sighs.

Me: **I mean yeah. I am**  
**Disappointed?**

He switches over to discord without waiting for the answer.

Me: **FUCK U PIDG** he types before logging off again.

Lance A.: _cool cool cool cool_  
_what's to be disappointed about?_  
_also omg that sounds wild. What'd you get your friend with last time?_

Keith blinks. Maybe it’s not so bad.

Me: **I changed the code of one of her robotics projects so that it would always call her a pigeon. I had it so well encrypted, it took her a good week to decrypt**  
**Well that was the one I'm most proud of. The most recent one was changing the name on her locker, but she never uses it so it took her ages to figure out**

Lance A.: _oh my god hahaha_  
_so it's not just me you're mean to ;)_  
_You should change her ringback tone, she'll never notice that_

Me: **That's a good idea**  
**I knew you were good for something :)**

Lance A.: _;)_  
_well I gotta bounce. Need to get started on a paper. Catch you later, princess?_

Keith smiles at the persistent nickname, his heart doing a dumb little backflip. 

Me: **Sure, Lance**

* * *

Keith yawns for the umpteenth time this morning. He can hear Shiro's voice in his head telling him he's getting too old to keep pulling all-nighters. But he dismisses his friend’s advice in favor of collecting his coffee from the barista. He takes one sip—the perfect amount of bitterness to wake him up—and heads for the exit. The coffeeshop detour has cost him a few minutes, and he really needs to get to class on time to hand in his homework. 

Cursing professors who refuse to accept email submissions, he pushes open the door.

"Hey! Watch it!" someone says, just as the door nudges him and Keith’s cup of precious coffee busts open. Half its contents spill on the person’s sweater, dripping all the way down to his shoes. The guy jumps back with a curse.

"Oh, shit!" Keith groans, holding his now significantly lighter cup away from himself. "My coffee!" He looks up to glare daggers at the asshole who just lost him his fix, only to get a shock that wakes him up faster than any coffee could have. 

It's Lance. Standing in front of him, looking very irritated, hot coffee dripping from his clothes.

"Dude, you ruined my new shoes," Lance gripes as he flicks his very much soaked shoe at Keith. "Not to mention my sweater." He pulls the baby pink wool away from his body as it tries to stick to his chest. "You know, I could have gotten burned!" Lance glowers at Keith.

Keith's response dies in his throat. Lance up close is…beautiful. Keith has no other word for it. He’s an inch or two taller than Keith, with smooth brown skin and short brown hair. 

He knows he should apologize, say _something_ ; Lance is wringing coffee out of the hem of his shirt. Keith opens his mouth and, "You should watch where you're going," is what comes out. That's…not what he was going for at all.

Lance looks up, ocean blue eyes gleaming angrily.

"Sorry, we weren't looking where we were going," another guy beside Lance says, giving Keith a weak smile. His hand is on Lance's elbow.

Keith vaguely registers the other guy as Hunk from that dance-off picture Lance sent him weeks ago, but his attention is on Lance’s irritation. 

"Whatever," Lance scoffs, pulling his arm away from Hunk and pushing past Keith into the cafe. "I'm going to go clean up," he calls back to his friend, heading off toward the restrooms.

Keith just stands there for a moment. He doesn't even nod when Hunk gives him a tentative wave and makes his way to a table. 

"Excuse me." 

He realizes he's blocking the door and finally steps out, cringing when his own wet shoes squelch uncomfortably. He has two minutes to make it to class two buildings over. But Keith would sooner die than run to get to class.

In the end, he makes it at a jog.

* * *

As soon as Keith gets home, he throws his bag on the bed and kicks off his shoes. His soggy socks are next to go. He left class as soon as he handed in the paper, ignoring the professor's pointed look and the other students' judgmental stares. He washes up and changes, which gives his thoughts sufficient time to chase each other in his head. 

He sits down hard at his desk and logs onto his computer. He opens discord and sends off a **You were right** to Pidge.

There's no immediate response, or even a ‘Hodge-Podge is typing.’ His hands hesitate over the keyboard for a second before he continues. 

**About the crush thing I mean.**

And then because admitting it to himself is a giant relief, and because Pidge isn't currently roasting him, he keeps going. 

**I ran into him today at the coffee shop. Literally ran into. He was pissed coz I spilled coffee on him but omg seeing him up close I can't deny it anymore. So yeah you were right.**  
**…I might delete these messages..**

Minutes pass in which Keith loses himself in his thoughts again, before the usual ding signifies a new message. 

You do know there's a chat history right?  Pidge has typed back. 

But happy for you dude. So what's the plan to get Mr. Blue-Eyed-And-Pretty to notice you exist?

**He knows I exist!**

Yeah as the guy who spilled coffee all over him.

He’s still contemplating a comeback when the discussion board he keeps open in a pinned tab starts dinging with incoming messages. He switches over to find Lance already in the middle of a rant.

Lance A.: _So I was walking to my normal coffee shop this morning and I open the door only to have a cup of fucking coffee poured all over me. The guy didn't even apologize! I'm so angry, that was my favorite sweater! Who does that?_  
_Stupid mullethead_  
_He's probably a dude-bro. Or like one of those dumb biker-bros_  
_Or or like idk. I'm too tired and chilled to the bone. I could use a hot cup of_  
_Wait for it_  
_Coffee_  
_Any ideas on how to get coffee stains out of wool?_

Keith watches the flood of messages that makes him want to bury himself face first into his bed. How does he respond? 'Whoops that was me all along,' comes to mind as definitely NOT an option. 'I'd love to take you out for some coffee,' however true, seems glaringly out of place, even to Keith. In the end, he goes for the safest response he can think of. 

Me: **Vinegar works.**

Lance A.: _Vinegar?_  
_But it smells so gross. I don't even have any..._

Keith types out ‘I could give you some,’ before backspacing it because that would involve meeting face to face and apparently Lance hates the sight of him now. Great.

Me: **You can air it out, or even wash it with regular detergent later, but the stains will be gone.**

Lance A.: _Or I could bury it in my hamper and not take it out until spring break and get chewed out by my mom for fifteen minutes before she'll wash it for me._  
_Is that an option?_  
_Is that a cowardly attempt at getting away from buying vinegar... maybe Hunk has some_

Me: **You could also just get a new sweater**

Lance A.: _I don't think I can buy an abuela-knit sweater off ebay. It was a christmas present too._  
_Okay okay I'm sorry I'm so mopey but I really did love that sweater._  
_I hope your day was better_

Keith curses under his breath. He ruined his crush's sweater of apparently deep sentimental value, the same day as he admitted to himself that he is in fact crushing. And now he's talking to that crush while basically pretending to be someone else. 

**Well I didn't run into any assholes today.**

Something prevents him from typing the teasing 'until now' that his brain provides him with.

Lance A.: _That's always good! I'm glad._

There's a minute’s pause.

Lance A.: _You know that new planetarium exhibition is gonna be lit_

Keith stares at the message, the memory flooding back to him. He's supposed to meet Lance at that thing. He doesn't even bother cursing because what's the point.

He goes over his options in his mind. He could cancel, citing some emergency, but coming up with an excuse and sending it and dealing with Lance's most likely understanding but disappointed reaction already feels like too much. He could just not show. But that's even shittier, and besides, Lance would just ask to meet up some other time.

He should...just get it over with, he supposes.

It somehow never occurs to him to tell Lance right now what's on his mind.

Me: **Yeah…**

Lance A.: _I hope the weather will be nice!_

There's another pause.

Lance A.: _I'm really looking forward to it._

Boy is Keith not looking forward to the moment he won't have anymore screens to hide behind.

Me: **:)** he sends, which is about as ambiguous as he can get away with.

Lance A.: _Well you're probably busy with your coding or whatever so I'll just. Go. Gotta start that assignment I guess._  
_I'll send you an ask if I get stuck? That cool?_

Keith smiles despite himself. Despite everything. 

Me: **No.**

Lance A.: _I'll take that as a yes ;)_  
_Talk to you later princess_

Me: **"later, lance"**


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Keith**   
>  _Lance_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Beautiful picture by [alex](http://okay-but-klance.tumblr.com/post/176159795492/i-did-art-for-the-keithminibang-i-was-an-artist)!

_Hey hey, so tomorrow's the day!_  
_We never decided on a time. It's an all day event, what time you wanna do?_

Keith, long past trying to pay attention to his English professor, looks down at the notifications on his phone. He and Lance finally exchanged discord ID’s and the level of familiarity makes him sweat a little. He looks up and around to make sure no one's looking before typing a quick reply.

 **I'm working until two. So like 3-4?**

He licks his lips and hits send. This is stupid. He should just call it off.

_Ooo I have class starting at 3:30 so that won't work. How late are you okay with?_

**Anytime after that. Who needs sleep.**

_Man after my own heart! We'll sleep when we're dead ;P_  
_Tho tbh I need beauty sleep once in a while. You can probably relate, right princess?_

**Haha**

Keith thinks back to the past week and his three all-nighters. A grin plays at his lips.

 **Sleep is for the weak**

_Lmao joke's on you. You have natural good looks that aren't dependent on how much sleep you get, don't you?_  
_Probably don't even get dark circles or bags under your eyes smh_

Keith looks about again and casually covers his mouth with his hand as he tries to hide the soft laughter. 

**You should see my face after a week of all nighters. I'm like the living dead. No one even approaches me. My friends shun me and/or make me drink coffee until I feel like my insides are melting.**

_You'd probably still make a pretty zombie ;)_  
_Uh anyway ^^; sorta got sidetracked here_  
_Um is 7 ok for you?_  
_I have class until 6:15 so_  
_Yeah_

The redirect is too brutal; Keith wasn’t prepared. He is ready to die. Literally ready to die. His face heats up, and he pockets his phone for a solid minute, bracing himself. He tries to tune back into the lecture; something about a happy few soldiers. When that doesn’t work, he flips through the open notebook on his desk. He has nothing to write, so he taps his pen against it a few times. Then, he pulls out his phone again.

 **Yeah, 7 is fine.**

Nope. It’s not fine. Nothing is fine. He is going to die. This will be the end. He wonders what his tombstone will read. <>

_Kk see you tomorrow at 7. I'm gonna dress nice for you princess_

Dead.

* * *

Keith finishes work and, having nothing else to do, goes to the gym to burn off his nerves. It works for a while, but soon enough it's 5 PM and he has to go home to change. He showers and then stands in front of his closet for a good fifteen minutes before defaulting to black jeans and a t-shirt. He's left with his hair, and after a moment of indecision, he grabs a headband, pushes his bangs back, and calls it a day.

He slips into his jacket on the way out and ends up at the planetarium a good thirty minutes too early. He stands at the entrance for a moment before stepping in line to buy their tickets.

"Two please," he says to the lady behind the counter. His stomach suddenly flips as the reality he's been ignoring begins to set in. 

He pockets the tickets and goes over to stand near the large floor to ceiling windows by the entrance. He taps a foot against the floor and finally pulls out his phone to check for messages.

Nothing. 

All he can do now is wait. He makes his way over to the cafe in the corner of the lobby and hops onto a stool. 

He's halfway through his coke when Lance walks in. He’s wearing a blue plaid shirt half-tucked into slim blue jeans that fit like they were made for him. Even from the distance Keith can see how well the color pops against Lance’s complexion. He’s dressed…nicely. _As he promised he’d be,_ Keith remembers, and his heart does the stupidest little skip. No one even knows it happened except for him and he's still embarrassed. 

Lance looks around and then checks his phone. It dawns on Keith that he should've sent an ‘I'm here’ or ‘I bought our tix’ message, but he'd wanted to wait since he was so early. Lance is technically early too, now that Keith thinks about it. 

Lance spots the cafe and heads straight for it…toward the only empty stool…right next to Keith.

This is it. The moment of truth. Keith braces himself for the realization that 'You're the asshole who ruined my favorite sweater.'

But when Lance sits himself backwards on the stool and gives Keith an appreciative once over instead, Keith's heartbeat betrays him again.

Keith looks down at his drink before side-eyeing Lance. What is he supposed to do? He isn't supposed to know what Lance looks like. Why didn’t they do a ‘this is how you'll recognize me’ thing? A red flower on his lapel? A handkerchief in his breast pocket? Anything?

"Hey there," Lance says casually. "You here for the planetarium?"

Keith looks up. What else would he be doing here? Lance’s ridiculous opening is so endearing that it makes Keith’s stomach clench all the more tightly. "Yeah," he manages. Up close, he’s noticing how the light, bright blue of Lance’s shirt really brings out his eyes. This is bad.

"Me too." Lance settles in, getting comfortable. "You waiting on someone? I'm supposed to go with my friend, but I'm early." 

Keith realizes Lance isn't really looking for answers to the questions he's posing. As usual, he's fine carrying out a one-sided conversation. 

"Hey, that headband is a cool look, by the way! If my hair was longer I'd try it." He sighs wistfully. "But I look like a mushroom when I grow out my hair so, that's that." He chuckles to himself.

Keith imagines Lance with a mushroom on his head and tries to bite his lip to keep from smiling too obviously. He has no idea what is going on. Lance doesn’t seem to recognize him. But slipping into a conversation with him is as easy as it’s always been. "Thanks. My hair's getting too long." Keith pulls at a strand. "Thinking of maybe cutting it."

Lance cocks his head to the side as he scrutinizes Keith's face. "Nah, man. This length is good on you. But you'd probably rock short hair too." He says it nonchalantly, as if handing out compliments like that is no big deal for him. Keith isn't sure why he's surprised. Lance hops to a new topic as easily as, well, Lance. "Is your friend late?"

"Thanks man," he says and looks away. How to break it to Lance that he's Keith? Lance’s rant about him _to_ him after the coffee incident replays unhelpfully in his mind. He takes a breath and looks Lance square in the eye. "No, I think he just got here."

"Oh? Sweet. I'll be waiting here alone for a while then, I guess." He looks over at the entrance then spares a look at his phone. "My friend doesn't seem to be here yet. I met him online, you know. Is it weird that I'm really into him and I don't even know what he looks like?"

Keith tries to swallow but his throat is suddenly dry. What? He opens his mouth to say something and then snaps it closed. He feels his pulse spike. He doesn’t know what he was expecting from the date when he set off earlier this evening, but _this_ certainly wasn’t it. But if the universe, and Lance, are giving him signs…. 

"It's me?" It comes out as a question and as Lance turns back to him, Keith’s eyes focus on a spot to the left instead of his face.

Lance sighs, clearly misinterpreting Keith’s nervousness as distraction. "I know, you gotta go right? I'll just sit here and freak out until he gets here." He looks down at his lap and starts turning his phone around in his hand absentmindedly, rambling on without seeming to realize it. "I mean, I don't know if he even likes me. Like, I know I said he's my friend, but he's kinda hard to read. I don't even know if he's into guys actually." Lance looks at Keith again, and something in his eyes seems to click into place. "Wait, you look familiar. Do we know each other?"

Keith is ready to melt into his chair. "I'm Keith," he finally says. "Hi. I'm early." And then, his brain condenses all the miscommunication and misunderstandings into a single word. "Sorry!"

Lance looks like he's just been told half a sentence and is waiting for the other half to be spoken. Blank. Uncomprehending. 

Until all of a sudden his eyes widen and fill with panic. He scrambles to back away from Keith, seemingly forgetting he's sitting on a backless stool. He catches himself on his feet before he can fall though, and turns back to face Keith. "Keith? As in Princess? As in I really should've kept my mouth shut just now?"

Keith nods, and Lance buries his face in his hands. 

"Oh my God! I’m an idiot! I can't believe I just blurted all that out." He seems to realize something as he looks up again, somehow even more mortified than before. "I'm, uh, Lance, by the way. In case that wasn't clear."

"Hi," Keith says and gives a small wave, not quite certain whether to feel relieved that he’s not alone in freaking out.

"Oh my God!" Lance looks ready to tear out his hair. "Listen, I'm sorry if— I don't— I mean, I'm not—"

Keith glances around. They've gathered quite the crowd around them. "It's okay. Lance? You look like you're about to have a panic attack, it's fine. Fine," he talks, the words jumbling together as he tries to calm the other boy down, poorly.

"Oh, fuck," Lance whispers. His expression turns pained and he shoves his phone into his pocket with finality. 

And then he turns and bolts without a backward glance.

Keith looks at Lance's retreating back, hand held up as though to call him back. Lance disappears out the front door leaving Keith alone with a dozen strangers in the lobby. He lowers his hand.

"You okay there, buddy?" someone asks him, but he has a hard time registering who it is.

"Here," he says, thrusting the unused tickets into the stranger’s hands before jogging to the front door and wrenching it open. The parking lot is as empty as he feared it would be.

"Dammit," he curses under his breath and pulls out his phone. What can he possibly say to make it all right? Coming up with a blank, he squeezes the phone in his hand in frustration. Dammit!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Keith**   
>  _Lance_

It's been a week since the ‘planetarium fiasco,’ as Keith has started referring to that day in his head. He’s lurked in the class message board and discord, but Lance hasn't been online in either. He even thought about going to their one shared class, but his work schedule hasn't matched up. He's not certain what he’ll say when he does see Lance again, but he doesn't want to lose another shot at this. Lance _likes_ him, is “into him,” he said that day. Keith still marvels at how far away that is from the hate he was convinced Lance would feel for him. 

He leans back in his desk chair, trying to focus on homework but his mind kept wandering to Lance. The next assignment is due in under six hours. And if Keith's instincts are right, Lance will come online looking for confirmation that what he's doing is right. His coding skills—or at least his ability to complete the homework assignments satisfactorily—has improved over the course of the semester. Unfortunately, his confidence in his own work hasn't. 

With just four hours left until the assignment due time, sure enough, a 'Lance A. is typing' pops up on the class message board like a beacon of hope.

Lance A.: _So um if you don't hate me right now, can I ask for your help? @Keith_  
_Almost typed @Princess haha... you've changed your username but, old habits_

Keith, having waited anxiously for the chance to talk to Lance again, now finds his fingers hovering over the keyboard with uncertainty. Perhaps it'll be best to just watch and see how the conversation progresses. 

Me: **Of course I don't hate you. What's up?**

He wants nothing more than to convey how much he doesn't hate Lance, but how?

Lance A.: _you're right. hate is a strong word._

'Lance A. is typing' stays on the screen for a solid five minutes before the next message comes through.

Lance A.: _anyway so i was working through this assignment, and i'm definitely able to do way more of it on my own now, but #4 is giving me grief_

Keith quickly looks over the assignment again. 

Me: **You remember how to create random numbers right?**

Lance A.: _yeah yeah, i got that part ok_  
_but when i try to display the results in a table, it just spits the entire dataset back at me_  
_ok but when you said you don't hate me_  
_i mean i def scared you away didn't i?_  
_ugh i still can't believe my big mouth_

Keith stops typing his answer for #4 and just watches the messages come in. Here it comes. He copies his response to the problem and starts again.

Me: **You didn't scare me off**

He holds his breath and hits enter. Keith pastes his reply to the question but hesitates to send it as he waits for Lance. He sees 'Lance A. is typing' and waits some more.

Lance A.: _look, you don't have to try and spare my feelings, keith. i know i must've majorly creeped you out_

Me: **Stop ignoring what I say you moron!**  
**I definitely don't hate you**

Lance A.: _you really are hard to read you know_  
_but ok! i'll take it_  
_i'm still sorry for everything i blurted_  
_just realized i never actually said sorry until now_  
_brb gonna jump out my window_

Me: **The only thing you did wrong was not go to the show with me.**  
**Tickets wasted**

Lance A.: _i..._  
_you remember all the stuff i said right?_  
_like you actually heard all that word vomit?_

Me: **Of course**  
**And you kept on ignoring everything I said and ran away**

Lance A.: _um YEAH because i thought i'd freaked you out!!_  
_idk if im making things worse by saying this, but_  
_i meant it_

The implications of Lance doubling down on his confession are lost on Keith as exasperation at Lance's obliviousness wells up inside him. He savagely beats out the next message. 

Me: **Good. Because I feel the same way.**

A username Keith doesn't recognize hops in.

Riz J.: If you guys are gonna talk more about #4 that'd be great, but if not, take it to DMs jeez

Whoops.

Me: **Sorry**

Keith pulls his hands away from the keyboard as though burned.

Riz J.: but yeah I do really need help with that question too

Keith pastes his answer in, actually sending it this time. Then he gets up and paces the length of his room, fingers combing through his hair.

Fuck, he thinks to himself, staring at the window blinds for a moment before taking a breath and sitting down again. 

His butt has barely touched the seat when his phone chimes with a notification. A discord message from 'Lancey Lance.'

_WTH DID I READ THAT RIGHT??_

A second message comes in just as he swipes open the first. 

_shit I really didn't think this was how confessing my crush was going to go_

**I might've told you right then and there if you hadn't run off**

_listen_  
_if you had just confessed your crush to some cute stranger_  
_and that stranger turned out to be your crush_  
_youre telling me you wouldn't bolt?_

**Okay, fair**

Keith tries to suppress a smile. Since it is confession time…

**I just thought**  
**I thought you remembered who I was**

_btw not to detract from the earth shattering revelation that you like me back (i’m still ??? ur serious?) but I tried your solution and the table is still not displaying the correct results.....can I show you my code real quick?_  
_remember you? we'd never met before, princess_

**We might have. Once.**

_????_  
_if this is your way of getting back at me I s2g_

Keith has to keep from laughing. This is going far less poorly than he anticipated. 

**Not really. I'm sorry I should have told you.**  
**That coffee incident. That was me. I just, was afraid to tell you**

_coffee incident_  
_as in when that asshole spilled_  
_WAIT_  
_holup_  
_that was you princess? But that guy had a mullet and long bangs while you_  
_oh_  
_you had a headband on_

**right...**

_shit_  
_im sorry_  
_again_  
_wait_  
_you should be apologizing for this one lmaoo you r u i n e d my sweater_  
_how come you didn't stop me when I was ranting about you…to you…_  
_?_

**How does one even bring that up? ‘Hey this person you hate now, actually me’**  
**And I am sorry about the sweater even though I've said that three times now so that's the last time**

Keith tries to keep his fingers still as he types. There's still a tiny twinge of worry in his gut, even though it’s slowly melting into something else.

_nah I think u gotta make it up to me princess_

**Have something in mind?**

_i just might_  
_it involves stars and planets_

**Oh?**  
**Looking at some astronomy maps in the science building then?**

_a little further from campus maybe?_

**The arcade to shoot some spaceships?**

_that…actually sounds hella fun but I was talking about the planetarium. You mentioned the tickets being wasted so I figure you didn't go either_  
_unless you don't wanna go back there, which is fine_

**Oh, right. The exhibition ends this weekend though**

_it does_

**I'm free friday night**

_Oh, I have a...._  
_you know what_  
_fuck it_  
_im free_  
_what time?_  
_and uh, also, just so im totally clear…_  
_is this a date or…?_

Keith can feel his heart jump in his chest. 

**I'd like that, yeah**

_is that so?_  
_name a time then princess_

**Same time, same place?**

_it's a date then_

Keith types in the words and then waits, finger hovering over the enter key for way too long before he pressing it down with a bit too much force.

**A date**

_so does this mean you are into guys?_

**you're asking me that now?**  
**after I already said yes to a date with you. Isn't that a bit late in the game?**

_well you never confirmed either way!! just making sure man_  
_Does that mean I can send a <3_  
_?_

If Keith was any other person, he would have key smashed at that, but he isn't, so he calmly stands up and walks to his open window and yells into the brick and cement alleyway. Two minutes later he's back at his computer.

**do you want to?**

_< 3_

Keith grins to himself.

**I take that as a yes**

_ayy that's what i like to hear :D See you at 7 then!_  
_btw the headband look was really cute_  
_i'm just saying it would be rad if you wore it again_

**I'll be there**  
**Let's see if you recognize me this time**

_Mean!_  
_Good night princess_

**Good night lance**

* * *

Keith walks into the planetarium and looks around for Lance but sees no one he recognizes. He glances back at the stools where the last fiasco occurred and walks in the opposite direction to wait by the big floor-to-ceiling windows instead. 

He looks out the windows for barely more than a minute when he hears a whisper against his ear, "You come here, often?"

Keith starts and looks back before smiling. "Been here once or twice. More often lately."

Lance's face splits into an open grin. And then he leans in and wraps his arms around Keith's shoulders in the briefest of hugs before pulling back again. His smile is more nervous now, and he points at Keith's face. "You wore the headband," he points out.

Keith brings his hand up to touch the headband. "Well, I heard somebody liked it so," he leaves the phrase hanging before turning away. "So, tickets?"

Lance pulls out two from his pocket. "Got us covered."

"That's. Oh, okay. Good thing I didn't go buy them then," Keith says with an awkward bark of a laugh. "So, stars? They are cool. I like Cassiopeia best. It's a constellation though not a star."

Lance's eyes twinkle as he passes one of the tickets to Keith, pocketing the other. "Stars are super cool. What do you like so much about Cas?"

Keith raises his eyebrows. “Cas?”

“I’m a compulsive nicknamer, Princess.”

"Of course. Okay, you'll think this is lame, but I built a computer and had a couple hard drives. I like naming them something so I picked constellations. And Cassiopeia was the first C-one I found. For my C-drive." Keith gives an embarrassed look as he takes the ticket and fiddles with it in his hands. The show is about to start in twenty minutes; a double feature with Planets and Constellations and the Art of the Stars.

"That's the nerdiest thing I've ever heard. I love it!" Lance chuckles, shoulders relaxed now, walking leisurely toward the little theater. "Also, you built a computer? Holy shit! What other drives did you name?"

"My E-drive is Eridanus. And F-drive is Fornax since it was literally the only F-starting one on the list. That's it really," Keith says as he finishes counting on his fingers. "Do you have a favorite constellation?"

"Orion," comes the immediate reply.

Keith looks up at him surprised. "Why Orion?"

"You're definitely gonna think this is lame. But I was a huge Harry Potter nerd." 

"Was?" Keith asks suspiciously.

"Fine. I still am, okay? Jeez," he huffs, but he's smiling. "Anyway, so I just thought Sirius was the coolest, and he's named after the dog star, Orion's star." He sheepishly runs a hand over the back of his neck. "When I found out that's what his name meant, I looked it up, and that's kind of when I got interested in the stars." He looks pensive for a moment. "I mean they've always been pretty, but that's when I started taking more of an interest in space."

Keith has to bite his lip to keep from laughing because holy heck that was cute. "Orion, the hunter. Not a bad constellation to pick," he says instead. "Come on." He grabs Lance's hand and pulls him toward the quickly forming line to the domed theater.

They make their way into the dark room, finding two adjacent seats with a good view. Lance gives Keith's hand a slight squeeze, decidedly not pulling away.

The theater fills up, and soon after, a lady walks up to the slightly raised platform in the middle to introduce the show. Her voice is lightly accented but it fits nicely with the sudden glow of the stars up ahead as the show begins.

Lance lets out a little breath of awe at the projection of the stars. They swirl above them as constellations shift and sparkle. The lady speaks with a melodic voice, explaining what they see, but it slowly turns into soft background noise as Keith focuses on the skies above. The stars move, exposing new constellations in their wake and he feels a smile tug at his lips.

"Beautiful," Lance murmurs, transfixed by the view. 

Keith turns to Lance's profile. He takes in the soft slope of Lance's nose, the slightly parted lips, the wide open eyes and their upturned gaze. "Yeah," Keith says, voice low. "Beautiful."

The show whirls around them, but soon enough it leaves them in comfortable darkness and a brightening sky above.

“And that's our show folks!” the presenter says into her mic as the auditorium lights up. “I hope you had a magical ride through the sky and you make your way back safely!” 

Keith squints as his eyes adjust. "How'd you like it?" he asks, picking up his bag from the ground and getting to his feet.

"That was awesome!" Lance exclaims. "I wonder how they do it; it feels so real."

Keith hides a smile as he turns. "With a projector. Like in the movies."

Lance shoots him a mock offended look. "I know they use a projector, but I'm just saying. It doesn't feel projected; it's like we're under real stars, you know?"

"The real stars are even better. Ever been in the desert when the milky way spans the horizon? I think everyone should experience that at least once." Keith says, thoughts going back to the awe he had felt the first time he'd seen it.

"Not the desert, no." Lance talks as they make their way out of the theater. The crowd jostles them, and Lance steps closer to Keith so they don't get separated. "I used to try and stargaze back home," he continues, leaning closer into Keith's space to be heard over the crowd. "But the skies were just never clear enough."

Keith feels a push and before he knows it, he collides with Lance's chest. He pushes away almost immediately and casts a glare at whoever it was, but they've already disappeared into the crowd.

"So um, where do you want to go next?" Lance's voice is only a little high and rushed.

"Oh, right. Next," Keith says as they finally are back in the lobby. "It is still pretty early." What could he possibly say: food, drink...games?

Lance taps his chin as he looks around. "Oh here!" He dashes off and then reappears next to Keith just as suddenly, now holding a map of the exhibits.

"The other exhibits?" Keith asks as he leans against Lance's shoulder to get a peek at the map.

Lance tilts the map a little so they can both look. "See anything you like?"

"We could take a look at the meteorites," Keith points at a spot on the map. "I'd also like to check out the gift shop. Anything you want to see?"

"Gift shop huh?" Lance wiggles his eyebrows teasingly. "Someone you're shopping for?" At Keith's unimpressed look, he turns back to the map with a small smile. "There's a show on the origin of our solar system," Lance points. "Oh and there's a lecture series…. Let's steer clear of that."

"Not into learning about....Rethinking Reality: Space, Time and Gravity?" Keith teases.

Lance laughs. It's an open, musical sound and is somehow exactly how Keith imagined Lance's laugh would be. "This is a date, princess. It can't be too educational. Otherwise I'd just bring you to my physiology lecture and call that a date."

"Moon rocks it is." Keith steers them toward the exhibit hall. He listens to Lance chatter as they go, and finally they push through into a large cavernous space.

It's dark, the walls painted black and the lights dimmed to make the installation seem more space-like. There are spotlights marking specific installations based on each planet, and the walls are lined with display cases. Keith peers down into one of the well-lit display cases. "I wonder if these are real," he says as he looks at the small rocks inside.

"Wanna find out?" Lance smirks, mischief twinkling in his eyes.

Keith looks up. "What do you mean?"

"You know, some good old fashioned trouble making." He mimes smashing the glass in with a fist. When Keith doesn't immediately freak out, he adds a hurried, "I'm kidding. I actually have no idea if they're real."

"At least you're better than that one astronaut who stole literal moon rocks to impress his girlfriend," Keith laughs, walking over to the plaque on the other side. "Huh... it says they are real." He glances back at the display. It’s unexpectedly eerie to think that this rock, so small, once traveled through space just to burn up into nothing but a pebble before landing on earth.

"The things that rock has seen," Lance muses, as if reading Keith's thoughts.

They make their way through the planetarium, losing track of time as they take in exhibits on the past and future of various aspects of the universe. 

A smooth voice booming overhead jolts Keith from his pleasant headspace. "The planetarium will be closing in twenty minutes. Please begin making your way toward an exit. Thank you."

"Oh shit, we gotta go to the gift shop," Lance says.

They head over to the small shop near the exit. There are posters lining the walls, books displayed on shelves, and small planet trinkets everywhere. Keith zeroes in on a set of keyrings; planets and space shuttles. He can practically imagine it dangling from Lance's pocket. He makes a beeline for it. 

Lance walks off in a different direction, and Keith loses track of him until they bump into each other again at the checkout counter. Lance is tucking a small bag into his pocket. Keith eyes it with interest. But Lance doesn't let him ask about it, cutting in with "I'm hungry. You?"

"Starving." 

They walk outside into the darkening night. Not many places are open but a small diner is lit just across the street. "Fancy some late night waffles?" Keith asks.

Lance responds with an ear to ear grin. "Diner waffles are my jam! How did you know?"

"Hmmm," Keith considers, "I didn’t but, it is a good way to root out the bad ones." He crosses the street without waiting for Lance.

Lance catches up, laughing. "No kidding. If you'd suggested pancakes instead, I'm sorry to say this would've been over," he says with mock solemnity.

"I don't know what it is, but somehow waffles just taste so much better than pancakes," Keith says as they step inside. It's self seating and the lady at the counter waves them toward a row of nearly empty booths.

"It's the shape," Lance says authoritatively.

"Or you know, the fact that it gets a lot more fried surface area," Keith slides into the booth and goes for a menu placed behind the napkin dispenser.

"True. Everyone knows healthiness and tastiness are inversely related."

"Right?" Keith agrees a bit too strongly, but no one seems to be paying them any mind. "So waffles..." he says as he skims through the menu. "Ah! They have chocolate chip and banana ones. With chocolate syrup on top."

"Good choice, good choice," Lance commends, voice taking on a hilariously pretentious tone as he looks down his nose at his own menu. "I shall opt for the waffle sundae."

"Excellent dinner choice," Keith says just as the waitress comes to take their order. "And can I get a black coffee as well?" The waitress takes the order down and turns to Lance. "Anything to drink for you?"

Lance just asks for water. "So," he turns back to Keith once the waitress departs, "how's life? Other than, you know, dealing with me." He smiles a bit self-consciously at that last bit.

Other than Lance? “Work mostly. And class. Graduating this semester, so have to try and not miss too many of the ones with mandatory participation grades.”

"Wait you're graduating already?"

Keith looks at Lance, confused. "Well. Yeah, I'm getting my BS. Now I can officially say my BS is better than yours to a lot of people."

"You're graduating from undergrad! Oh my god." Lance plants his elbows on the table puts his head in his hands. "How have I been thinking you're a grad student thing whole time?"

"No idea," Keith says, turning to glance at the door leading to the kitchen. "Was it the book smarts?" he tries. 

"Well you're in a grad class, so that's where the assumption came from. But I feel like I asked you what year you were! Or at least…" he trails off, thinking.

"Least what?" Keith asks just as the waitress comes back with their order, or part of it at least. She deposits a coffee cup—black, two sugars—and a glass of water on the table. "Your food'll be ready in a minute!" she says with a smile before rushing off again.

"At least..." Lance pulls out his phone and taps around, a look of fierce concentration on his face.

Keith watches anxiously as he pulls something up. 

"Aha! There," he pushes his phone into Keith's face, displaying the chat they'd had months ago on the class discussion board. It clearly shows Lance asking if Computer Science is a two year masters and Keith confirming that it is.

"I don't remember this at all," Keith says looking at the words.

Lance raises his eyebrows but Keith can't tell if it's in amusement or disbelief. "Really? Denial? I thought you were gonna hit me with some semantics argument about how you technically never said you were in that masters program. I'm disappointed, Princess."

"Well now that you say it, I didn’t _not_ say that I wasn't in the program," Keith says, looking off to the side and decidedly not at the phone.

"Mmhm." Lance pockets his phone. He wears the expression of a man who's just been shook but is trying to make the best of it. "I can't believe I'm dating a nerd who takes grad classes for fun while in undergrad." But there's an undeniable hint of pride in his voice.

Keith can feel his cheeks start to burn, so he busies himself in taking a swig of coffee, _way too hot_ coffee, and chokes a little.

"So, any other shattering revelations you've been sitting on? Lay ‘em on me."

Keith takes a moment to recover from his burning throat, and as he does, the food arrives. He nods his thanks to the waitress, and with a quick "Enjoy!" she's gone.

"Well, you know I work in the school tech hub. I've told you that," Keith starts as he looks down at his steaming plate of waffles. They look _amazing._

Lance looks up from his own plate in interest. "No you haven't. That's pretty cool! My only campus job has been as a barista for a while." He takes a bite of his food, eyes slipping closed in pleasure at the taste. "You know I used that tech hub once last semester. Great online support service."

"That was me," Keith says and pokes at his own waffle.

"Oh haha." The sarcasm is hilarious to Keith given the situation. Lance shakes his head and stuffs a giant bite of waffle, ice cream, and whipped cream into his mouth, smearing a bit on the corner of his mouth.

"It really was," Keith insists, as he leans in to snag the loose bit of whipped cream with his finger. "You had popup issues, if I recall." He licks the cream off his finger, his anxiety dissolving into something else.

Lance, waffle abandoned, stares at Keith with his lips slightly parted, speechless for once in his life. The faintest hint of color tinges his face as his eyes linger on Keith's mouth. "Are you ever going to stop surprising me?" he finally murmurs.

Keith gives him a crooked smile and takes his own fork to start on his waffles. They’re surprisingly good and he's lost in the food for the next few minutes. "It's been ages since I've had waffles," he says after finishing half his plate.

Lance's ice cream is melting on his waffles as his eyes keep drifting to Keith, as if taking him in.

"What?" Keith demands.

"Nothing!" Lance looks down and starts scooping what he can into his fork. "Just admiring the view," he says so softly Keith almost doesn't hear him.

Keith smiles around another bite before putting his fork down. He pulls a small bag out of his coat pocket. "Got you something," he says, holding it toward Lance.

Lance shovels the last bite into his mouth and excitedly pushes his plate aside. "Oh! Are we exchanging gifts now?" He pulls an equally small bag out of his own pocket and hands it over, taking Keith's with his other hand.

"It's nothing special just, thought it was nice," Keith says as Lance looks inside. 

"YO!" Lance exclaims. "This is so cute!" He dangles the keychain and watches the little planets swing back and forth. 

Keith flashes an embarrassingly dopey grin at the success of his first ever present for Lance. He pulls out Lance's gift for him and his smile only gets bigger. It's a tiny replica of a meteorite.

"It's versatile," Lance pipes up after Keith has been admiring it for a good moment. "You can display it in your room, or if you're the jewelry type, you can string a chain through it. Up to you, really! You just seemed really into the meteorites in the exhibit, and then I saw this in the store—it just seemed perfect." He sounds a bit breathless toward the end, as if he's trying to get the words out before his brain catches up to his mouth.

"I love it," Keith says and brings it up to get a better look. The stone glitters in the yellow fluorescent light. "Thank you, Lance." He grins and lets the small rock lay flat on the palm of his hand. "Oh Pidge would love to see this. "

"Thank _you_ for this dope swag." Lance shakes the gift again, watching the charms jingle. "So when do I get to meet this Pidge, the only person to have one-upped you?"

"One of two people," Keith corrects. "Shiro's my other friend that you need to meet. Actually!" He suddenly remembers the plans he made for the weekend. "I'm meeting up with them at a robot match on Saturday evening. You wanna come?"

“Robot match?”

"It's a really good time. Well, most of it anyway.” The fights aren't exactly sanctioned by the robotics lab, but they aren't discouraged either. “Pidge always has something new to present. _Big Hero 6_ style, if you know what I mean." 

"That's literally the nerdiest thing someone has ever said to me, and I'm a scientist. Of course I'm down!" He gestures to the waitress for the check before turning his attention back to Keith. "And once we've done that, would you want to meet Hunk? I could bring you to one of our dance-offs."

"I'd get to see you breakdance live. Wouldn't miss it for the world." Keith takes the bill from the waitress, insisting since Lance bought their tickets earlier.

They step outside into the cool night air. Keith silently wishes Lance would continue the conversation. 

"What did you call my move? The windmill? Oh man, you are so gonna eat your words." Lance puts his hands in his pockets, looking up and down the dark street, lingering.

"Well, I'm going back to the dorms," Keith says, like the awkward idiot he is.

Lance bursts into a laugh. "You are so unromantic," he accuses. "Fine fine, I'll let you go. My apartment is the other way, so this is goodbye then. Unless you wanna walk me home like a gentleman." He wiggles his eyebrows.

"Now you've done it. If I refuse I'll look like a dick," Keith sighs dramatically. "Here, I'll take the scenic route home." He takes Lance's hand, and they fall into step on the empty street.

Lance laces their fingers together. "So the threat of looking like a dick works to bring out your romantic side. Got it." He mimes making a mental note. 

Keith is so aware of every point at which their hands touch, and it's so pleasant, he feels like never letting go. He's glad they took this route after all, though he's not about to admit that. 

Lance leads him toward his building, slowing down when, much too soon, they reach the front entrance.

"Nice building," Keith stalls. 

Lance pulls him to the side a little. There is a moment when their eyes meet, and before Keith can feel his nerves take over, he leans closer, slowly to give the other boy a chance to move away if he wants. Then he stops. 

"Can I?" Keith asks, a hair's breadth away from Lance's lips.

"Please," Lance breathes, closing the distance and capturing Keith's lips with his own. 

Keith feels Lance's hand light on his jaw; the other is still firmly clasped in Keith's hand.

He pushes Lance against the wall, putting all his unspoken emotions into the kiss. Too soon he has to pull away, as he hears footsteps approaching. They wait an awkward moment as two residents give them a look before entering the building.

"So...." Keith starts. "I'll see you soon then?"

"Yeah," Lance whispers, breathless. "Soon."

Keith leans back in and kisses his cheek. "Good night Lance." He pulls his hand away. 

"Good night Princess," Lance replies and, with a quirky grin, disappears into the building. Keith walks back to his own dorm feeling like the happiest idiot on the whole damn campus.


	6. Chapter 6

## Epilogue

Keith pulls Lance along into the crowd. The room is already filled and the match isn't even bound to start for another fifteen minutes. The lights are dim and the pungent smell of sweat and kerosine is in the air.

"Just a little more," he says and glances back to meet Lance's eyes. He looks simultaneously bewildered and excited, and Keith can't help but give his hand a squeeze. They make their way closer to the center, and he finally finds a spot from where he can see Pidge standing in the dip in the ground. She has her robot in one hand and controller in the other; there's a telltale glint on her glasses and her grin is wide. 

She looks ready to slay. 

"That's Pidge," Keith says, almost shouting so Lance can hear him over the din. "The one on the left. Oh, her foe is pretty good too. Ezor."

"So how do these battles work?" Lance leans in for the question, and Keith chides himself for noticing how pleasant Lance's breath feels against his ear.

"One-on-one or free-for-all battle royale. Pidge usually does one-on-one." Keith tries to catch Pidge's eye but she's too busy sizing up the competition. He scans the small crowd on the other side of the dip, but there don't seem to be any new faces. "It's mostly the robotics lab testing out their newest toys, but anyone can join."

"Have you ever competed?" Lance asks, turning to face Keith fully.

"Not really my thing. I've helped Pidge a few times, but haven't built anything myself," Keith replies, just as a grad student he recognizes steps forward. 

The crowd hushes as the lanky guy holds his hands up. "Okay ladies and drones! We're about to start so cellphones out and get those hashtags ready!!" he yells into the packed room.

Applause and cheering ring out around the room. Pidge finally looks over at Keith and flashes him a thumbs up. Then she notices Lance next to him and makes an excited face that makes Keith regret everything.

The match begins, and Keith lets go of Lance's hand to clap as Pidge pulverizes her opponent in record time. Keith leans as far as he can to try and yell at her through the noise. She leaves the arena to stand in the sidelines, but not before giving a huge whoop and making the 'I'm watching you' motion at Keith with one hand.

There are three matches, back-to-back, in the first round. The crowd goes wild everytime a robot falls into the ground, motionless. At the end, the winners of each round come forward and wave to the crowd. Keith's not quite sure where in the rankings they are right now, but he's sure Pidge will be more than happy to let them know when she finally detaches herself from the group and starts making her way over to them.

"I gotta admit, that was really something." Lance finally speaks up, having spent most of the match enraptured. 

"What was your favorite part?" asks Keith with a pleased smile. 

"When the robots broke or fell on the floor. It made it way easier to tell who was winning."

Keith grins at Lance's honesty and is just about to reply when Pidge jumps on him from behind. He staggers but manages to pry her off easily enough. 

She all but pushes Keith aside in her eagerness to meet Lance. "Hey! I'm Pidge and the new champion." 

"The only one who can one up Keith. I've heard a lot about you!" Lance, wearing his hundred-watt grin, extends a hand toward her. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"You too!" Pidge replies, shaking his hand. 

Keith can see her sizing Lance up and he nudges her side. It doesn't take long for her to pull Lance into a heated conversation about robots and robot battle techniques, and Lance does his best to keep up. Keith pipes in a few times with his opinion but mostly just lets them talk, impressed and a little proud of how well Lance holds his own even in the most unfamiliar of situations. 

There's another yell from the center of the stage and Pidge perks up. "Oh, that's Stevenson saying to clear out. We still have to put the room back together before classes tomorrow," she explains, using Keith as a crutch to tiptoe and trying to see what's happening. "I'll see you guys later!" With a quick goodbye, she rushes into the throng of people pushing toward the exit.

"She was everything I thought she'd be." Lance chuckles. "You should totally invite me to hang when you two meet up. You know, if you're both cool with that. So," he clears his throat, "you said Shiro'd be here too?"

“Oh _she’d_ love that, but I'm not in the mood for you two to gang up and make fun of me.” 

“Come on, I need the BTS on what makes you you,” Lance teases. 

“Anyway, Shiro said he'd be here, but I haven't seen him. Want to go wait by the doors? We probably missed him in the crowd.”

They make their way through the chattering students, positioning themselves in a nook by the door so they can see everyone leaving without getting in the way. 

"So, tell me more about Shiro," Lance prompts.

"I've known Shiro as long as I can remember. We grew up together," Keith says. "Worked at the IT hub with me for a while too. He's a good guy." He leaves it at that, pushing the conversation in a different direction until he sees a tall figure crest the surface of the crowd.

"I think I see him." He takes Lance's hand and pulls him along.

"Are you always going to be pulling me around like this? Not complaining! I just want to know for future reference."

Keith only gives him a look and continues pushing through the thinning crowd. "Shiro!" he calls out to his friend, waving to catch his attention.

Lance catches up and squeezes Keith's hand before turning his attention to Shiro. "Woah you're ripped," he blurts.

Keith holds his breath, but Shiro just laughs. 

"I'm Takashi Shirogane, or Shiro for short. I've known this pipsqueak since he was in diapers."

“Liar!” Keith protests hotly. “You met me when I was five!” 

Shiro just gives him a look. "And you were saying?"

"So what I'm getting from this conversation is that Keith wore diapers when he was five." Lance mimes taking notes. "I am so glad I came today," he says with a wink at Shiro.

"I did not—Never mind," Keith groans.

"I'm sorry, he's too easy you know?" Shiro says. "To tease."

Lance nods eagerly, and there's a twinkle in his eye. "So, what do you do?" he asks Shiro.

"I just got accepted to a PhD program for biological engineering. And I do personal training on the side for petty cash," Shiro replies.

"Hey, congrats man!" 

Shiro gives a humble smile before turning to talk to another student who's come up to say hi to him. 

"He's a personal trainer," Lance whispers to Keith. "You think he'll give me some pointers if I let slip that I'm your boyfriend?"

"Your what now?" Shiro demands, apparently already done with his conversation. What was that, two seconds?

"My…" Keith swallows. "My boyfriend?" It comes out more like a question, and he moves to blindly take Lance's hand in his.

Lance clears his throat and smiles so big it's awkward.

Shiro turns to fully look at Lance. Keith watches him size Lance up and down. 

"Please," Keith hesitates. "Don't say anything embarrassing." He's not sure if it's directed at Shiro, who knows way too much about him, or Lance, who he's starting to learn talks first and thinks second.

"You checking me out?" Lance says, in a tone that was clearly meant to be flippant and joking. But it's painfully embarrassing.

_That's_ exactly the kind of thing Keith was dreading one second ago. 

Shiro takes a step forward, face stoic as he straightens into his full height. He makes an intimidating facade, and Keith feels Lance's grip tighten in his grasp.

Shiro turns his gaze to Keith. "He checks out," he says, and then in response to Keith's growing frown, "Pidge might have told me a few things."

"Oh my god, you knew? Then why'd you put me through that?" Lance is practically out of breath.

"He's as scary as a St. Bernard," Keith says. "And as annoying as...a small yappy thing. I don't know." 

Shiro laughs and claps Lance on the back. "If I didn't give you a hard time, I wouldn't be a good friend." And then he gets serious, grip tightening on Lance's shoulder, just enough to hint at the strength in that hand. "Just make sure to take care of Keith for us."

Lance only blanches for a split second before he's looking Shiro in the eyes. With an undeniably genuine look, he replies, "He's the one taking care of me so far, and I'll definitely be returning the favor."

Shiro holds on for a moment longer before pulling away. "Okay, I gotta run. I promised I'd help them out with cleanup. I'll see you Tuesday?" The last part is aimed at Keith who nods, and with a hasty goodbye, they are left in the now empty corridor.

"You're friends with some savage people, Princess," Lance chuckles. "Is that where you get it from?"

"You learn to dish it out when you're surrounded by piranhas. He's actually really nice when you get to know him. He'd probably take you up on your offer for training too. We usually go Tuesday and Friday mornings. He beats me up and then I go to class." Keith is only half joking.

Lance laughs as they walk toward the exit. "Nah man, you look like you got guns too." He pinches Keith's arm lightly, feeling the muscles there. Then he abruptly drops his hand and clears his throat. "So you wanna grab lunch and then head over to Hunk's?"

Keith agrees, and they head to the cafeteria. It's oddly full for a Saturday, but they manage to find a table. 

"So, you met my friends. Tell me about yours." Keith pulls his fried noodles closer and digs in.

Lance hums thoughtfully around his mouthful of rice. "Well, you're meeting Hunk today; he's the BFF. We met in freshman year of undergrad when we got assigned as roommates, ended up rooming together by choice every semester after. He's smart and funny and a great cook, and just the coolest. He's getting his masters in engineering right now, so both our schedules are pretty crazy. Weekends though," he points his fork at Keith for emphasis, "is when we get to have some fun together. Usually that just means catching up on sleep," he admits. "But when we're not dead, we like to have these lowkey parties that, more often than not, break out into dance-offs."

"Those pictures you sent before," Keith reminds him.

"Yup. Today isn't a party though. It'll just be us and him; we can chill."

"So who do I need to bribe to get you and Hunk to dance off?" Keith says, rolling his noodles and not meeting Lance's eye.

Lance sets his fork down and his eyes slip down to look at Keith's mouth. "Me, probably," he says, the corner of his mouth quirking up.

Keith looks up and catches him staring. "Are soggy noodles good enough of a bribe?"

Lance snorts, choking on his own laughter. "You are the _worst_!"

They finish eating, and after depositing their trays, they head out. 

"So anything I should know about? Skeletons in the closet?" Keith asks as the conversation lulls.

"Nothing much, just that one shrine of my ex, no big deal." When Keith merely gapes, Lance shakes his head at himself. "None of my edgy humor lands with you."

"I'll just file that under ‘need to still investigate validity of statement.’" 

"Nah, don't worry. It's a chill zone at my place. I think you'll like it." He does a nervous little bounce on the balls of his feet.

"I'm," Keith hesitates, "looking forward to it. Man, now I feel like I should have brought something. Is that normal? To bring something?"

"To a dance-off?" 

"To my boyfriend's apartment, that I'm visiting for the first time," Keith spells out. 

Lance goes silent for longer than is usual for him, and when Keith looks over, there's the softest look on his face. 

"What?" Keith asks defensively. 

"Nothing, just getting sappy over that word."

“What word?” Keith asks, face completely innocent. “Apartment?”

Lance raises an eyebrow, then steps into Keith's space. "Boyfriend," he clarifies, eyes boring into Keith's.

Keith stares into those eyes, wanting to keep up the indifferent face but not really able to. He reaches up and brushes a lock of hair off Lance's forehead. "Boyfriend," he agrees softly.

It's unfair how obviously happy it makes Lance to hear that one word from Keith. 

With a quick look around to make sure they’re alone, he pecks Lance's lips, steps away, and walks it off as though nothing happened. "So, what's it like living off campus?" he redirects. 

Lance takes a moment to recover before replying. "It feels very...adult," he begins, "but it also means I have to wake up earlier to get to class, so I'm not entirely sure I don't regret it."

They spend the rest of the walk talking about the merits of having five to twelve alarms on your phone for the mornings. 

When they arrive at Lance's building, Keith goes to open the door. "After you," When Lance hesitates, he adds, "No seriously. I don't know where I'm going."

Lance squares his shoulders. "Follow me, then." He steps in, and they take the stairs up to the second floor. "Hu-unk, I'm ho-ome!" he calls as he crosses the threshold into the apartment. 

"Just in time!" a warm voice calls back, from what Keith assumes is the kitchen. "Just finished with these cookies."

Lance leads Keith to the couch. Taking a seat, Keith looks around. The apartment is cluttered, perhaps a little small for two grad students, but it looks comfortable. Textbooks and papers sit on the floor by the couch, leftover from a late night homework session perhaps. There's a laptop with Netflix open on the coffee table. It feels...homey. 

A moment later, the guy from Lance's dance-off picture walks into the room carrying a tray of cookies. "Hey," he greets Keith cheerfully. "You must be Keith! I'm Hunk. Nice to meet you!"

As Keith stands to greet the newcomer, the laptop teeters precariously, but he swoops in to grab it, just in time. 

They shake hands, and Hunk's hand engulfs Keith's, but his grip is gentle.

"Lance won't shut up about you, so I feel like I sorta know you already." Hunk gives him a knowing look. "We can munch on these while we chill," he points to the chocolate chip cookies, which frankly look delicious. Then Hunk indicates the just-rescued laptop. "Got Netflix pulled up in case we run out of things to talk about, but with you here buddy," he turns to Lance, "that probably won't be an issue."

The conversation turns to Netflix shows and then the end of the semester and summer plans. The cookies are just as soft and delicious as they look, and as the afternoon wanes they end up ordering pizza and starting a show. Keith ends up in the middle, slouched against Lance's shoulder.

He doesn't know when it happened, but when the Godzilla anime marathon ends, he finds his hand in Lance's. He looks up from Lance's shoulder to find him grinning fondly. The look is so sweet, it makes Keith's chest tighten. He pushes away to sit upright and instantly misses Lance's warmth.

"I should probably head home," he announces, standing up.

"Oh it is pretty late," Hunk observes. "I lost track."

"Me too," Lance and Keith say at the same time, and everyone chuckles.

"It was great to meet and hang out with you," Hunk says to Keith. "You should come over again soon!" 

Keith agrees, they say their goodbyes, and Lance stands up, insisting on walking Keith home. 

"I promised Shiro I'd take care of you," Lance points out. "Plus, you walked me last time, and it ended in a kiss. I'm not about to pass up an opportunity like that."

Hunk shoos them out and starts cleaning up in the living room. Keith slips on his sneakers and glances back to find himself alone with Lance; Hunk has gone into the kitchen. Impulsively, he corners Lance against the wall. Lance looks up, surprised, and Keith gives him another kiss. It's short but still leaves Lance winded and flushed.

"You keep on doing that," Lance suggests as he pulls on his coat and hands Keith his. 

They step outside, hand in hand, as always.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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